Cretul Cold To $2 Tax For Tri-rail

November 19, 2009|Posted by Josh Hafenbrack on November 19, 2009 03:53 PM

Aaron Deslatte, Tallahassee Bureau

House Speaker Larry Cretul said Thursday that legislative staffers were "probably a little closer than we have been" to hammering out an agreement over the $1.2 billion SunRail project that could bring lawmakers back for a special session next month.

In a brief interview outside a coffeehouse near the Capitol, Cretul said he was encouraged that the insurance liability and labor union concerns with the rail project were being addressed, but that the House would have a hard time swallowing a new $2 rental car surcharge to finance South Florida's commuter rail system.

Federal transit officials have suggested Florida needed to shore up support for its regional commuter rail systems to have a better chance at landing any of the $8 billion in high-speed rail money available through the federal stimulus act Congress passed. Florida has requested $2.5 billion to jump-start construction of a "bullet train" between Tampa and Orlando.

That has led state officials to conclude they need to shore up funding for South Florida's Tri-Rail system, which needs millions of dollars to keep rolling next year, in addition to moving forward with the stalled Central Florida commuter-rail plan.

But for the deal to get reached, it's starting to become apparent that another source of cash -- perhaps the existing $2 rental car "surcharge" or a sliver of Florida's gas tax -- will have to be tapped, Cretul said.

"New taxes are going to be a heavy-lift with the House," Cretul said. "The ball is really in the Senate's court."

And the sentiment there is hardly unified. Senate transportation budget chief Mike Fasano, a New Port Richey Republican and SunRail supporter, was even more blunt.

?I would not support any tax to support any entity that runs in the red, and that?s Tri-Rail," Fasano said this week. ?We have bailed out Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach enough.?